Grounded
by outerelf
Summary: He had almost forgotten what it was like to fly.


_Powerful, rumbling engines strained to the highest ability, sending the three spiraling in an infinite loop. Wind slipped over the wings, caressing them gently, the soft, slight draft upwards lending its warmth and tailwind perfectly._

_The light flashed off the gilded paint, the brilliant, dazzling colors flashing blindingly. The suns powerful rays reflected off three, each smoothly sailing, happy love poured from above and envious admiration from below. They were kings-_

"Hey, wake up!" A warm hand shook the small shoulder, interrupting the beautiful dream. For a moment there was no answer as they took refuge in dreams-

_The lead looped, stiff wings catching the air, cutting through the resistance like a crackling energon blade through a thin strip of metal. The mech on the right shot forward, as the one on the left rolled across the empty space._

"C'mon, wake up already!" A large body slid in next to him, one hand skimming down the speed spoiled invitingly. Automatically his engine hitched slightly, the before smooth purr falling into a slight pause until it smoothed out.

Still he ignored the hand, instead curling up, feeling the smooth cold metal against his side, lulling him back down into the recharge.

_The new lead was a bit more daring then the original. With a wild engine rev, the glittering jet shot forward, twirling midair to flash himself off. To either side there was an instant move to copy, and all three twirled while shooting forward, before the other two curved off, allowing the lead to shoot forward-_

There was a slight poke at an exposed black wire, and he flinched back, mumbling protests softly. Equally soft came back the voice, "C'mon now, don't fall back asleep on us. We have something for you."

A light, teasing tone interlaced with a soft hand tracing the still exposed wire convinced him that the dream world held little promise to what was being promised.

Metal softly hit metal, as a leg came to rest nearby his head. Another hand traced the edge of the hard metal, as if trying to familiarize itself with the unknown and unusual contours. It slowly traced its way up, until it paused at a seam.

Slowly the one on the berth sat up, taking his time, allowing the other two to watch as he looked at them. One sat on the edge, one leg crossed daintily, polish reflecting what small light there was, while the other stood, one knee on the berth. Optics glowed dimly in the darkness, signifying that he was still half in recharge-

Two faceplates remained stubbornly unchanged and unrepentant at the sign of the slight downward curve of the lips. One hand reached out to touch the lips gently, before a smile lit up one of the faces. "C'mon, nobody's up- it's a perfect time to go."

His vocalizer ached to point out that if they were still up, so would everyone else, before a box was subspaced into hands. It looked perfectly innocent, just simply a box with two holes- but he knew the truth about it. He also knew what they were hinting.

His spark clenched, and he stared at it for a moment, faceplate still as the metal it was fashioned of. Two eager pairs of optics stared back, one pair dancing with inner laughter, the other quietly begging. "I-"

Words failed, but the trine bond didn't. :_Surprise- love- care- joy- __**please**_:

A slow, jerky headshake broke out. Two engines hitched in surprise, the silence deafening. The one sitting on the berth stiffened, cables standing out in intense displeasure. The one with one leg casually resting against the berth stiffened as well, before leaning forward, optics flashing blue ice. "Why?"

Optics dropped down to the hands, and his lap, vocalizer struggling for words. "I'm scared." Words softly spoken, barely heard, creating a vortex of silence in which a pin could drop and be heard.

An arm slowly circled around his waist, and a head rested on his shoulder. Words, whispered so not to break the spell, "What do you have to be afraid of? The sky-"

One arm reached across the grab the one wrapped around his waist, the other arm reaching blindly for the one leaning against the berth. The other leaned forward in response, adding his silent comfort. Chassis to chassis they sat together, engines rumbling. After a few moments, each engine slowly caught each other, until all three were purring at the same rate. Silently they waited for the answer.

"The sky- I'm afraid if I go, I won't be able to come back."

The soft acknowledgements of the silent fears suppressed to the back of the CPU made two slight grimaces appear. Arms tightened around each other comfortingly, reminding each other that they weren't alone. "We'll be there."

"I- I know."

Comfortable silence fell for a few moments, as each drew silent comfort from the warm, supporting arms wrapped around each other. The arm around the waist tightened. "Don't be scared. We've done it plenty of times."

"I know." Still he made no move to free himself, a rare occurrence these days.

"You've been on the ground for far too long. You're starting to act odd. Well, more odd then you usually do." The weak joke fell flat, and the accused mech attempted to draw back, hurt by the words.

Instantly the one who spoke tightened his hold. "Sorry, sorry, it was a bad joke, I know. But you have been grounded for far too long. When was the last time you felt the wind underneath you?"

"Far too long." Came back the soft answer. Nods from those flanking him, and pleading optics begged him to come with them, and enjoy the time.

"If we're going to do this, we'll need to leave before anyone wakes up to notice we're gone."

A fleeting smile touched two faceplates. A soft skidding sound filled the air, as the two on the berth slid off. The third made room for them, grinning down at the shorter, smaller mech. "You're going to love this. I did a wind reading before coming here- there's a good north-northwest wind blowing down the mountains, so no need to fear anything from the mountains."

A soft snort clearly stated his disbelief, and the smaller mech stepped forward to poke the larger in the middle of the smooth plating that covered his energon processor. "Then that means a storm is brewing, because wind can't normally go _down_ a mountain."

"So, we're going a little bit of storm watching- no worries." Laughter danced along the very lines of the mech as he half spun around in a circle. "Don't you remember going storm flying?"

_The strong winds buffeted them from side to side, as if laughing at their puny attempts to conquer it. Thunder rumbled in the distance, almost masked by the howling wind that blew violently across the sky._

"We nearly died." The dry tone made the smile slip off a little.

"But we didn't, and you have to admit, it was exhilarating."

A slow, confirming nod overtook the other before he could stop it. Two headed for the door, before realizing the third wasn't with them. They turned, looking back curiously at the single mech still standing nearby the berth, optic ridges creased.

"You know, I still can't remember how we ended up like this."

A wince passed across two faces, as they looked away. "Because the cassette player we call Soundwave was a pain in the aft and decided to see if we could stand the reformatting."

"C'mon, let's go flying."

All three nodded, quietly stepping out of the room. The smallest took the lead, easily bypassing the security system that he knew by heart, and the other two followed along behind. The orange walls reflected the dim lighting, scored and scratched by the various illicit trysts, attacks, and falling rocks.

The Arks blast doors slowly slid open, briefly revealing the three Lamborghini's, the moons rays bathing them in her forgiving, beautiful shadows. The golden Lamborghini stared upwards at her, before looking down at the smallest, staring up at the jagged mountains in barely concealed envy. Over the mountains they could see storm clouds slowly building up enough steam to cross the mountains.

"It's perfect."

"It is indeed." The smallest Lamborghini engines revved at the mere thought of the ground beneath him. The red Lamborghini smirked as the feeling of that excitement crossed the bond, flooding the other two.

The Golden Lamborghini said nothing, but instead simply kept his part of the bond blank. He doubted either of the would want him to interrupt the joyful time with the pain of missing wings.

-_-_-_-_-

The brilliantly red and blue mech stood in the shadows, allowing its darkness to cover and mask his paint job and hide him from prying optics.

Outside he could hear the rain pour down from above, the scathing winds moan against the punishing rocky volcano the orange spaceship was trapped within. He sighed slightly as a distant rumble of thunder echoed along the empty corridors, glad that he knew everyone was inside.

If anybody were out in that miserable weather he would be highly surprised. It was the type of weather that threatened total destruction on anyone who carelessly wandered out in it.

Lady Luck eagerly grabbed a hold of the chance to show the mech how wrong he was. The giant blast doors to the Ark slid open, allowing the howling wind to rush in, eagerly clawing at the smooth walls with a moaning shriek. The lighting chose at that moment to strike, the jagged light for a moment revealing the three standing in the doorway.

The first nearly spun through the doorway, laughing quietly. It surprised him slightly- he had never heard him laugh before, and had to admit it was a very nice laugh. Behind the one laughing were the two taller mechs, making his start in surprise even further.

Unbidden, names fell from his vocalizer, soft enough to be covered by the thunder that rolled in. "Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, and Red Alert?"

Red Alert laughed again, looking at the other two. Water ran in small rivulets down his armor, decorating his helm in tiny beads. He shook himself, spraying water. Sunstreaker held up his hands automatically, trying to block the water, and Red Alert giggled softly.

Sideswipe grinned as he nudged Sunstreaker. "See, told you he needed to go out. He's been stuck in here much too long. Now this is the Red we all know and love."

Red Alert, amazingly, didn't scowl. Instead he simply shook his head, smile still playing on the very corners of his mouth. "Why, really Sides! If I didn't know better, I'd say you summoned the storm yourself."

Sideswipe grinned as he took another step forward, overshadowing the smaller mech. "You have to admit, storm flying is still as fun as it always was."

Only now did he recognize the flat object the red and white Lamborghini had plastered against his back. It was one of the Twins infamous jet packs. Red Alert was slowly detaching it, when Sunstreaker leaned close, whispering softly into the auditory receptors.

He couldn't hear what was being said from his shadowy nook, but judging from the blush that stained Red Alerts cheeks, giving him a surprisingly innocent look, it was something at least a little lewd.

As if to prove it, Sunstreaker teased one of the sensors, before kissing it. "You know, I very much miss having you in my berth."

"Mmm?" The suggestive moan coupled with the three engines slowly growing in power snapped the mech out of his voyeuristic CPU-frame, and with a crimson blush of his own, he began inching backwards, down the hallway before either three could spot him, and break up the intimate scene. It was good to see Red Alert had someone caring for him- Though the twins threatened to blow his CPU.

"That's it, Sides, you go get our room ready. I'm going to behind you dragging along Red."

"Wait, Sunst-" The rest of the name was broken off in a surprised whoop as the sound of someone being slung over a shoulder echoed down the empty hallways. With a grateful sigh, the mech escaped down the hallway, not looking back in time to see the slightly sad look cross Red Alerts face as he stared back at the wildly blowing winds.

* * *

_a/n: I don't know. I really don't. This was a rather pitiful attempt to break myself out of the writers block I am currently in, so... yeah..._


End file.
